Elizabeth Ii Keeps On Going And Going ...

DATELINE

LONDON -- Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 40th year on the throne today, still immensely popular but presiding over a family that has generated questions about the future of monarchy in Britain.

Elizabeth, the world`s longest-reigning monarch and senior head of state, became queen on Feb. 6, 1952 when she was a princess of 25. She and her husband, Prince Philip, were visiting Kenya because her father, King George VI, had been too ill to make the trip.

Throughout her reign, the queen mostly has remained above criticism, and has been respected and admired by British political leaders and foreign statesmen for her knowledge of world affairs.

But as head of the royal family, her task has been a difficult one.

In many ways, hers is a thoroughly modern family, prone to marital spats and breakups that have made the affairs of the royal House of Windsor sometimes seem like a soap opera. Some of the younger royals have been given to questionable behavior that has been censured by the press and public.

The latest instance concerned the Duchess of York, wife of Prince Andrew, who was heavily criticized by the London tabloids for having taken a Moroccan holiday in the company of unmarried Texas oilman Steve Wyatt. A servant recently gave the media snapshots taken during the May 1990 vacation.

Before that, royal watchers turned their fire on Philip and Prince Charles for going on a shooting trip while British forces were at war in the Persian Gulf last year and for taking expensive skiing holidays in Swiss resorts while Britain has been in the grip of a severe recession.

The fairy-tale romance between Charles, heir to the throne, and the glamorous Princess Diana is a thing of the past, and the couple now seem to live mostly apart. Princess Anne has been separated from Mark Phillips since 1989 and has conducted a widely publicized romance with the queen`s former equerry, Naval Cmdr. Tim Laurence, that seems to be accepted by Buckingham Palace.

There is persistent speculation that Anne soon might seek a divorce, following the example of her aunt, Princess Margaret, who is divorced from Lord Snowdon.

Some royalists view Charles as a possible threat to the monarchy, because of his marital problems and because of his somewhat eccentric habits, such as talking to flowers.

A man of 43 without a real job, he lately has devoted himself to trying to raise the standards of modern architecture in Britain, and last week announced creation of an Institute of Architecture to help train young people in the profession.

There has been speculation that the queen, now at retirement age, might abdicate to give Charles a chance to reign before his most productive years are behind him. But she scotched that in her Christmas message, saying she felt a lifelong duty to her subjects.

Questions have been raised about why the queen pays no income tax. When the tax was introduced in 1842, Queen Victoria volunteered to pay, but many of her successors did not. The present queen has said she would pay if Parliament wished.

Phillip Hall, author of the recent book Royal Fortune, said the trend in the modern world is for monarchies to pay tax.

``The trend in Europe has been for the ancient privileges to disappear,`` he said. ``In Britain the trend has been reversed. Today we have the grand monarchy and we are no longer a grand country.``

Elizabeth long has been regarded as Britain`s wealthiest woman. But the Economist magazine recently said she has dug deeply into her capital to help other royals, and estimated she is worth less than $90 million, with an annual income of $1.8 million to $9 million.

He estimated that the value of the queen`s private jewelry, racehorses and stables, private estates and investments is $1.4 billion to $1.6 billion.